Janice Gooley leaves legacy of fair housing, social work in Flint area

FLINT, MI – There was no such thing as an unanswered question about housing when Janice Gooley was in the room.

Anyone unfamiliar with fair housing or managing a family budget in Flint was in good hands when Gooley spoke and helped them get on the right track.

Gooley, 65, died in her Flint home July 11 after dedicating more than 40 years of her life helping the people of Flint working in the Urban League of Flint.

"She was a walking encyclopedia when it came to housing," said longtime friend Cleora Magee. "She did lots of workshops for the people of Flint and helped renters as well as landlords understand housing."

Through her many years of service, she touched lives and assisted everyone she came across.

She spent 31 years working for the Urban League of Flint, helping residents with housing issues, 20 years helping non-violent offenders change their ways and better themselves for New Path, an alternative program for jail- or prison-bound adults of non-violent nature and spent eight years working with the Michigan Department of Corrections advising prisoners who were reentering society on what they could do to ensure they don't come back.

"I can't think of a conference I've ever been to that she wasn't at as well," said Rosia Anderson Murphy, retired City of Flint fair housing commission member and long-time friend of Gooley. "She could bring out the best out of everyone. She didn't put people down for spending money on things like manicures when she did her workshops. She would help them learn a better way."

"If there were a few people who didn't understand what was being said at a workshop, she would talk to them in a way that made everything clear so no one was left out," Murphy said.

There is a viewing Thursday, July 17, from noon to 8 p.m. at the Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home, 906 W. Flint Park Boulevard.

A funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Friday, July 18, at Bethlehem Temple Church of the Apostolic, 3401 Martin Luther King Ave., with burial at Lovedale Memorial Cemetery, 5175 E. Bristol road, Burton.